House of the Dragon: TV Show vs. Book Differences
8 Ways "House of the Dragon" Puts a Spin on Plot Points From the Book
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"Fire & Blood" depicts Laenor Velaryon's life as rather tragic. He's heavily implied to be gay, sees his "favourite" (aka his boyfriend) die at his wedding celebration, and is stuck married to Rhaenyra while they both have affairs. Ultimately, he dies when his latest lover, Ser Qarl, kills him in the marketplace, reportedly paid off by Daemon or someone else.
While Laenor in the TV show does go through some of these tragedies, the show "reveals" that his tragic ending is actually just a cover story for history. Daemon does pay Qarl to get Laenor out of the way so that he and Rhaenyra can marry, but the plot is to fake Laenor's death, not actually kill him. Laenor is last seen sailing east with Qarl to live out his life far from the scheming of Westeros.